The Rock Report: Dave Grohl Directs Film

The Rock Report keeps rock fans updated on the latest news. Check it out every Friday.

Dave Grohl Trades Guitar for Camera

Nirvana may have been the premier ambassadors of Seattle grunge, but the album that put them on the map, "Nevermind," was actually recorded in a studio in California -- in the Valley, no less.

Dave Grohl, frontman for the Foo Fighters and former drummer for Nirvana, is directing and producing -- he really can do it all -- a movie about that studio, Sound City, which is also the name of the documentary.

“'Sound City' is a film about America's greatest unsung recording studio," Grohl recently told Variety. "Deep in California's sun-burnt San Fernando Valley, it was the birthplace of legend. It was witness to history."

Roswell Films will distribute the film. It's tentatively scheduled to be released early next year.

Jack White Hits No. 1

He’s won a couple of Grammy Awards and achieved a couple of platinum plaques, but now, Jack White can finally say he has a number one album. In the first week of its release, White's solo debut, “Blunderbuss,” topped the Billboard 200 by moving 138,000 units.

This marks the first time in White’s career that he had an album reach the number one spot, let alone debut there. This further proves that rock is not dead.

Everclear Is Still With Us

Everclear, which had a string of hits in the 1990s, are set to re-appear on June 26 when they release “Invisible Stars.” It will be their first album in six years, and it's slated to be in the same vein of previous full-lengths such as “Sparkle And Fade” (1995), “So Much For The Afterglow” (1997), and “Songs From An American Movie” (2000).

The group, based in Portland, Oregon, drops “Invisible Stars” just in time for the 2012 Summerland Tour, otherwise known as a traveling '90s party. Everclear will co-headline with Sugar Ray, and other '90s bands such as the Gin Blossoms, Lit and Marcy Playground will provide support. The tour runs from June 28-August 4.

Moon Taxi Video Commentary

Moon Taxi recently shot a music video for “Mercury,” the first track from their sophomore album “Cabaret” to get such treatment. Recorded entirely on an iPhone app that simulates an 8mm film camera, the video features frontman Trevor Terndrup roaming around town with a Yamaha bass drum.

“Our guitarist put it together and it looks really, really nice,” Terndrup boasts. “It's got a mini-story going on. We did some tour footage, but it's not about the live setting. It's about this monologue setting with this bass drum I found in a stream, and it represents this personality you carry around and adopt.”

“At the end,” he goes on, “I end up chucking it up -- sorta abandoning that personality. It's a cool video and we're real excited to put it out.”

Our Lady Peace on “Curve”

Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida recently spoke to us about the group's eighth studio album “Curve.” The album is arguably their most focused one to date, probably due to one simple rule the band followed during the recording process: eliminate anything that sounded remotely similar to the past.

“We wanted to make an artistic statement in terms of the music sounding fresh,” Maida explains.

“I think with bands, it's real easy to get into patterns, so we wanted to make sure if we recorded something and it felt like we've been in that place before, we pressed stop and moved on, bailed on that idea, and that was hard to do especially when you think you have a good song. But we just made that decision early.”